Published by EPI's co-founders — Linda Katz and Nancy Gewirtz — the first edition of the Rhode Island Standard of Need report, issued in 2001, was clear about its purpose: "The Poverty Institute (the name of the organization before it became EPI) began calculating the annual Rhode Island Standard of Need because most experts believe that the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) is a seriously outdated measure of economic well-being."
(Note: In EPI's electronic and paper files, we have located only this image of the cover page, so if you happen to have a complete copy, please let us know!)